Propelling apparatus for vessels.



J. WORCESTER.

PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 3; 19H- 1,28 0,93 2. Patented 001;. 8,1918.

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PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 13. I9-

1,280,932. Patented 00a 8, 1918.

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1. WORCESTER. PROPELLING APPARATUS FOR VESSELS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- 13. 19W.

manma 001- 8,1918.

7 a suns-sugar 3.

' Waltham, in the county of Middlesex and .without'dry-docking the vessel.

I .J'AMES WORCESTER, 0F WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS.

PROPELLHIG APPARATUS FOR VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8, 1918.

Application filed September 13, 1917. Serial No. 191,096.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES WoRoEs'rnR, a citizen of the United States, reslding at State-of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Propelling Apparatus for Vessels, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that type of propelling apparatu in which the driving is effected by a. single blade swinging between pairs of oscillating forks which propel the blade from side to side and serve to limit its sweep. With the known propellers of this type I have found it practically impossible to use explosive engines as the source of power owing to the difficulty in starting the vessel with the propelling blade operating with the length of stroke which is most eflective when the craft is under way.- I have also found that the towing power and speed and the extent of lateral vibration of the vessel'depend in large degree upon the relationship of the angle of divergence. between the forks and the angle, or are, of oscillation of the forks, the sweep of the propelling blade being dependent upon the arc of oscillation. Within certain limits the greater the angle of oscillation, the greater is the propelling power and the harder the work for the motor, and the smaller the angle ofoscillation the faster the vessel will run and motor. It is highly important, especially when working with motors other than steam, to impose upon the motor a little work as possible in starting the vessel, and highly important to be able to vary the relationship-between the angle of the forks and the angle of oscillation in order to develop great speed or high power asmay be required. r

It 's also highly advantageous to be able to remove and insert thapropelling The objects of my invention are to provide simple and effective means for controlling the relationship between the angle of the forks and the angle of oscillation thereby controlling the initial strain imposed on the motor and the speed and power capacity of the vessel; to provide .means whereby the propeller blade may be quickly and easily removed and inserted without docking the vessel, and to provide other improved m 'thods of construction.

the easier the work for the positioned athwart blade The invention consists in the mechanism and combinations and arrangements of mechanism hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the stern end of a vessel embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the mechanism for actuating the forked arms which carry the propelling blade;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 4 is a side-elevation of the forked arms and propelling blade;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same; and

Fig. 6 is a detail of the hinge stems for the propeller blade.

In the drawings, the numeral 2 indicates the stern part of a vessel which may be of any size or type but should have overhang suilicient to permit, the forked arms and propeller blade to swing horizontally through a complete circle for steering and reversing purposes, 3 a shaft which may be rotated by any suitable source of power, 4 a crank wheel fixed to the shaft, 5 the crank pin, 6 a rod connecting the crank pin with a short jointed link 7 which connects with one end of a longitudinally slotted lever 8 which is functionally a walking beam, 9 a rod connecting the other end of the lever with a lug 10 on a carriage 11 arranged to slide on a splined spindle 12 which preferably is the vessel and which is mounted to permit 'of' rotary motion, 13 controlling bars pivotally attached to lever 8 near its driven end, and to a fixed part,

'splined to splndle 12 so that it may be rotated thereby, 23 a worm gear fixed to a vertical shaft 24, hereinafter called the propeller shaft, which has one bearing in the stern post 25 and another in an extended part 26 of over at its end, as shown in Fig. 1, for convenience in forming the bearing, 27 horizontally extending arms fixed at one end to the skeg which is turned up and the propeller shaft and diverging at their outer end to form fork 28, 29 a sleeve keyed to the propeller shaft and preferably integral with the arms, 30 a bar connecting the 5 arms and positioned near the apex of the forks, 31 concave socket elements, carried by the arms 27 adapted to receive and posi- -tion convex hinge stems or heels attached to the propeller blade, the sockets being provided with eyes for the hinge pins, 32 the propeller blade which is provided with inge piece 33 having convex heels 34: which fit the concave sockets 31 and are provided with slots adapted to receive a pivot bar 35, and eyes adapted to receive the hinge pins 36 formed on the pivot bar but ofiset from or eccentric thereto, the upper of the hinge pins preferablyextending below its bearing and being held against displacement by a cotter pin 37, 38 reinforcing plates upon the upper, lower and hinge edges of the propeller blade, and 39 a sheave fixed to a spindle l2 and adapted to be rotated by an endless cord 40 which leads to a steering wheel (not shown).

The operation is as follows rotation be ing imparted to shaft 3 a reciprocating motion is imparted to the walking beam 8 through connecting rod 6. The walking beam through connecting rod 9, imparts a reciprocating motion, on spindle 12, to carriage 11 and consequently to the worm sleeve 22. The worm, meshing with worm gear 23, imparts an oscillating motion to the proforked arms 27, the extent of the angle of oscillation depending upon the extent of swing of the walking beam which may be given greater or less swing by moving the fulcrum nearer to or farther from the driven end of the beam. The forked arms on each side alternately engage with the propelling blade, those on one side propelling it through the water in one direction and those on the other side propelling it in. the opposite direction. The steering is efi'ected by swinging the forked propelling arms to one side or the other of their normal field of action. This is accomplished by rotation of sheave 39 by means of the steering and reversing cable 4:0. This imparts rotation to spindle 12 and worm sleeve 22.- Rotation of the worm sleeve imparts an axial movement to worm gear 23 and propeller shaft 24: which is diswhich swings the propelling arms 27 and the propeller blade 32 to one side or the other of their normal field of action. Ttshould be noted that, to obtain like results in steering,

the propeller blade should be swung in a di rection reverse to that in which a rudder is swung inasmuch as the propeller pushes the stern of the vessel around instead of pulling p the bow around as the rudder does, on To reverse the direction of motion, the

cillation may be decreased indefinitely withpeller shaft 24 and consequently to thetinct from their oscillating motion and tion and the difierence should not be less than ten degrees if lateral vibration of the vessel is to be avoided, but the angle of os out causing vibration. I have obtained the best results with the angle between. the forks from 90 to 100 degrees and the maximum angle of oscillation ten degrees less than the angle between'the' forks. Up to 90 degrees, the greater the angle of oscillation thegreater the towing ca acity and the less the speed. Down to abou 40 degrees the less the angle of oscillation the less the towing cacapity'and the higher the speed.

In order that a difference of at least ten degrees between the angle of the forks and the angle of oscillation may be maintained at all times, the extent of the slot'in the walking beam, or the travel of the fulcrum in the slot, should be so limited that the sweep of the walking beam will not produce an angle of oscillation of the forks materially above ten degrees less than the; angle between the forks. In other words, the adjustment should be such that the angle of oscillation may not be increased to bring it within less than ten degrees of the angle of. the forks.

For speed the length of the forked arms from the propeller shaft to the hinge pins of the propeller blade should be to the width of the-blade as 11 to 4. To avoid unnecessary strain upon the propeller blade the upper and lower forks should contact with the blade at points about one-fifth the length of the blade from its ends. The length of the blade as to its width should be about three to one. i

The worm sleeve should be of large diameter and the pitch of the worm threads fine, and the motor shaft should be in line with the center of the propeller shaft.

1. Propelling apparatus for vessels comn5 prising a power shaft, a-propeller shaft, forked arms fixed thereto, a propeller blade mounted to swing between the forked arms,

a walking beam actuated by the power shaft,

a fulcrum for the walking beam longitudi- ,ment may be imparted to' the shaft.-

3. Propelling apparatus for vessels comprising a power shaft, a propeller shaft, forked arms fixed thereto, a propeller blade mounted to swing between the forked arms,

a walking beam actuated by the power shaft,

a fulcrum for the walking beam longitudinally adjustable relatively thereto, means for locking the fulcrum in selected positions, a splined spindle, running athwart the vessel, a carriage mounted to travel longitudinally on the spindle, a worm sleeve mounted in the carriage, a worm gear fixed to the propeller shaft and meshing with the worm, and a rod connecting the walking beam and the carriage whereby reciprocating movement may be imparted to the carriage and worth sleeve, thereby imparting oscillatory movement to the worm gear, propeller shaft and forked arms 4. Propelling apparatus for vessels comprising a power shaft, a propeller shaft, forked arms fixed thereto, a propeller blade mounted to swing'between the forked arms, a walking beam actuated by the power shaft,

a fulcrum for the walking beam longitudinally adjustable relatively thereto, means for locking the fulcrum in selected position, a splined spindle rotatably mounted, a carriage mounted to travel longitudinally on the spindle, a worm sleeve mounted in the carriage, and splined to the spindle, a worm gear fixed to the propeller shaft and mesh- 40 ing with the worm, a'rod COnnecting the walking beam and the carriage, a sheave on the spindle and means for rotating the sheave.

5. Propelling apparatus for vessels comprising a propeller shaft, forked arms fixed thereto, concave sockets on the forked arms provided with eyes to receive hinge. pins, a propeller blade, convex hinge elements 'attachable thereto and provided with slots adapted to receive a pivot bar and eyes adapted to receive hinge pins, said hinge elements being adapted to'fit into the concave sockets on the forked arms and a pivot bar carrying hinge pins offset from its stem and adapted to take into the eyes in the sockets and hinge stems.

Signed by me at Boston, Mass, this tenth day of September 1917.

J AlWES WORCESTER.

Witnesses: 4 HOYT L. CoNARY, OLIVER MIToHELL. 

